


Drowning in Moonlight

by MintSauce



Series: The Halfway House [32]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: M/M, Swimming Pools
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 17:39:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3905053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MintSauce/pseuds/MintSauce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The shadows are twisting off the pool, throwing shadows up against the walls. It's like a movie scene and Ian wants to live in it for a moment, just a moment, with Mickey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drowning in Moonlight

“Hey,” he says softly as he unlocks the gym’s side door.

It feels eerie being there when no one else is. Like being in school after hours. There’s a chilling edge to it, like anything could happen now that there’s no one to witness.

Mickey looks awkward bundled into his jacket and a frown already creasing his forehead as he slips past Ian.

Ian locks the door behind him again and motions for Mickey to follow him.

The gym has large windows set into the roof and the moonlight that filters through just doubles that eerie feeling. The air feels silver and Ian can feel the excitement like electricity crackling through his veins.

“The hell are you up to, Gallagher?” Mickey asks him as he trails after Ian.

He hasn’t been to the gym very often and even then, he hasn’t seen much more than the front desk or the coffee shop. Ian got him onto a treadmill here once and neither of them mention the experience. It’s safely tucked away in the box for their relationship labelled: _If anyone asks, did not happen._

“You’ll see,” Ian says just as they step through an employee door and the swimming pool spreads out in front of them.

The water is shining blue, throwing shadows up against the walls, twisting shapes in the moonlight. The tiles are still slightly damp, making a soft squelching sound under the soles of Ian’s trainers.

“What –”

Ian turns and grins at him, toeing off his shoes and pulling his work polo over his head in one smooth move. He shivers slightly in the air of the room, even though it’s stiflingly hot and muggy in that way indoor pools always are. Maybe it’s just the thrill of it, of stripping naked in the place where he works.

He’d had to call in a couple of favours to get this opportunity, to get the keys to the front door and the code for the alarm. Nobody needed to know he’d written that code down to remember and copied the key for future use.

He can’t help but grin wildly at Mickey as he kicks his boxers aside and turns to dive into the pool.

The water is cool against his skin, but warms up after that initial moment to something comfortable. It feels weird to be naked in the pool, almost infantile in a way he can’t quite explain.

He dives down, swims a short length underneath the surface. When he comes back up for air, hair flicking backwards and water still clinging to his eyelashes, he finds Mickey’s still standing there on the side. He’s still fully dressed, hands gripping the bottom edge of his jacket in a way that easily spells nervousness.

He’s just staring at Ian, biting his lip a little and Ian’s not sure what’s going on here.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, swimming over and folding his arms onto the side.

He stares up at Mickey towering over him and it’s probably the one and only time he’ll get that image. He quite likes it, even if it is as weird as hell.

Mickey shakes his head, fingers fluttering towards the zip on his coat and then away again without touching it.

“Mick?”

He shakes his head quickly, eyes darting towards the door like he wants to bolt.

Ian lifts himself up and out of the water easily, pleased when Mickey comes easily as Ian tugs their bodies closer. It’s strange but thrilling, pressing himself against Mickey when he’s naked and Mickey’s still bundled up tight in all of his clothes.

The slick slide of his skin raises goose bumps on Mickey’s when he slips his hands around the back of Mickey’s neck. He peers at him curiously, frowning. “Tell me,” he says quietly, even though there’s no need to be. “What’s wrong?”

He just wants to do something cheesy and romantic, to live in a movie scene for once in his life. It’s always something people do on television as a date, sneak into a public pool and swim naked underneath the dancing shadows. Have sex pressed up against the tiles, skin slipping wetly together.

He wants to live that experience with Mickey. He doesn’t know what’s going wrong.

“I can’t –” Mickey grimaces and pulls a hand from where it’s resting on Ian’s waist to wave towards the water awkwardly. “It’s… I never…”

He trails off and looks angry at himself. It’s one of those moments where Ian knows if he doesn’t do the right thing, he’s going to mess this up and lose him. Mickey will just bolt and it will be another thing they don’t talk about.

“What?” he asks. “Swim?”

He hadn’t thought of that as a possibility. He feels stupid all of a sudden. How could he not know something so simple about his own boyfriend.

“When the fuck would I have learnt to swim, Gallagher!” Mickey snaps, but Ian doesn’t rise to it.

He just smiles softly and lets his fingers drift to Mickey’s zipper. He takes him out of his clothes slowly, each piece of fabric being dragged away with a careful precision. Like trying not to spook a wary animal. He’s giving Mickey all the opportunities to back out, to run.

But his boyfriend is just watching him with wide eyes trained constantly on Ian’s face.

He just lets Ian manoeuvre him out of his clothes and doesn’t fight it as finally he’s standing there just as naked as Ian is. His skin is shining in places where Ian’s dragged his wet hands over him. Physical evidence of Ian’s touch, clear as day on his skin.

He shivers as Ian presses them together fully, not a slither of even air allowed between them. He kisses him, lips cold and wet against Mickey’s warm and dry ones. He slides their tongues together, touches Mickey’s face, his hair. He drifts his fingertips down Mickey’s sides and cups his ass briefly.

Mickey moans a little into his mouth, swaying forwards when Ian pulls back.

“Come on,” Ian says, lacing their fingers together. “I’ve got you.”

He leads him down into the shallow end of the pool, moves down the ladder first and draws Mickey in after him. He doesn’t say anything about the way Mickey’s hand shudders in his as they step into the water. He doesn’t say anything about how Mickey latches onto him with a grip tight enough to bruise, even though the water’s barely even lapping up to his waist.

“Trust me,” Ian says and he can see on Mickey’s face that he does. They wouldn’t have gotten this far otherwise.

He guides Mickey against him as they step a little further towards the deeper end of the pool. He pulls Mickey’s legs around his own waist and smiles as Mickey latches on hands gripping Ian’s shoulders tight.

They don’t go much further, just far enough that the water laps a little higher up their chests, but that Mickey could still put his feet down if he wanted to.

“I’ve got you,” Ian whispers before he kisses Mickey sweetly.

The contrast between Mickey’s body, firm and solid against him in his arms and the water lapping all around them is better than he thought it would be. It feels like romance, just like the movie scene he thought it would, even if it is playing out a little differently.

He kisses Mickey slowly, until both of their mouths taste like chlorine and then guides Mickey to lie on his back in the water. He still has his hands pressed securely under Mickey’s shoulder blades and it takes a quiet moment of persuasion to get Mickey to not latch onto him with his hands like he has been doing.

“Lift your hips a little,” Ian says and Mickey does, body bobbing up towards the surface.

He spreads his hands out wide like he’s trying to catch the moonlight on the water. The expression on his face is astounding, it’s completely amazed as he floats there on his back. “I’m swimming,” he says, laughing and it doesn’t even occur to Ian to correct him that he isn’t quite yet.

Their eyes meet and he laughs right along with Mickey, bending to kiss him and having to catch Mickey suddenly as his whole body dips beneath the surface, concentration lost. Mickey splutters, latching back onto Ian, but he’s still grinning.

It’s not the way that Ian thought this would go at all. He thought they’d be chasing each other, be fucking up against the side, suspended in the deep end with nothing below them and only Ian’s hands on the edge of the tiles, his hips driving into Mickey’s to support them. He thought this would be sexy and fun, not moment so gut-wrenchingly trusting that it feels like they’ve just conquered some giant hurdle in their relationship, in life.

He thought that by copying that key he would be opening them up for a world of underwater sex experiences. Instead, it’s stolen nights in the week of teaching Mickey to swim, of watching the joy and the anger and the frustration on his face as he swims clumsily across the pool. It’s kissing underneath the dancing shadows in triumph as Mickey sags exhausted against him, breaststroke sloppily mastered.

It’s so many things that Ian didn’t think it was going to be, but it’s all better still, somehow.

**Author's Note:**

> I am [themintsauce](http://themintsauce.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Come chill with me!!


End file.
